The scene: It was Yee’s first home meet and only her second bar performance at the collegiate level. She had fallen twice her first time competing on bars, scoring an 8.725. And she didn’t even come to SUU to be a bar worker to begin with.

But everything came together that night three seasons ago. Yee scored a 9.95 to set a bar record that has yet to be topped.

Since that meet, Yee has only scored less than a 9.800 twice when she hits her routine. Sure, there have been some falls in there as well. But if she’s on, she’s one of the best bar workers SUU has ever seen. Even if that wasn’t the original path for her.

Not many people would deny Bauman has an eye for talent. SUU isn’t usually in competition for the kind of recruits that end up at Florida, Oklahoma, Utah and the other premier programs in the nation, but the Flippin’ Birds have been able to bring in athletes that have allowed them to be competitive with a number of the top teams. But, as with all recruiting, sometimes some luck is needed.

“We recruited her to be a floor worker,” Bauman said.

Yee never actually got around to that. In four years at SUU, Yee has never competed on floor and Bauman admits she no longer even practices it. So how did the potential floor tumbler turn into one of the best bar workers the program has seen? That answer is fairly simple: She always liked doing bars, so she practiced it a lot. Eventually, she got pretty good. Well, really good.

“She just became great,” Bauman said. “... She’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached. She feisty. She’s so fun to have in the gym. She messes with you in the most subtle ways.”

Yee is one of the quietest girls on the team. But she knows how to use that quietness for some laughs.

During her freshman season, Bauman pulled in all the first-year athletes for one-on-one meetings to see how they were adjusting to college life.

“My whole goal was just to listen, not impose what I was thinking,” Bauman said. “I just wanted to know where their heart was, what they were thinking, were they homesick and just listen to what they had to say.”

Yee didn’t have much to say. But that was intentional. She sat there and stared down the head coach for what Bauman remembers being an uncomfortably long time. He tried to get her to talk, asking if she had any issues or if she wanted to talk about the good things about the program.

Still, she remained silent.

“She didn’t say a word for 10 minutes,” Bauman said. “It was just awkward, weird silence. You could just see her laughing inside about this. That’s just how she is. She’ll mess with you. I’ve grown to absolutely love it.”

It hasn’t been all smooth sailings since the record-breaking performance for Yee. Actually, her best routine may have come too fast.

She felt pressure to live up to that performance, and that pressure got to her. So much so that she had to be pulled from bars at a later meet.

“It was like this crazy, emotional roller coaster,” Bauman said. “She’s learned to relax, trust the process and enjoy the journey.”

Said Yee: “My coaches told me that I didn’t have to do that every time. I just had to do good gymnastics. That helped a lot.”

Three years later, she’s still doing good gymnastics.

On March 3, in her final regular season meet in her home arena, Yee hit a 9.925 on bars -- the second-highest score of her career. But she gets one more chance for the perfect bookend to her home career. On Saturday, SUU will host the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Championships.